Government hoping to update FTA with India: Vijitha

The government is hoping to initiate discussions with India to update the Free Trade Agreement between India and Sri Lanka, which was signed several decades ago, Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath said.

He told a news conference that the FTA with India needs to be updated and continue as the market has expanded now.

The Minister said Sri Lanka brought to the notice of the Indian government the need to discuss the matter during President Anura Kumara Dissanayake's recent state visit to India.

Referring to the Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ETCA), the Minister said the government did not sign the ETCA as claimed by some opposition politicians and that the government only agreed to continue discussions on the matter further.

"No final decision was made or set dates for discussions on ETCA. We will not sign any agreement detrimental to our economy," he said.

Minister Herath said Sri Lanka signed only two MoUs with India during the recent visit, which included an MoU for training and capacity-building of 1,500 civil servants of Sri Lanka and a Protocol for amending the Agreement of Avoidance of Double Taxation.

He refuted claims that Sri Lanka agreed to implement a multi-product pipeline from India to Sri Lanka and added that Sri Lanka only agreed to continue the discussion initiated by the previous government on the matter.